COVERED! Baloo’s Artwalk Poster Design

When my buddy SoTx Stencils asked me to design the poster for our upcoming artwalk this October, the initial idea was to use the original source image and just replace the text. This, of course, would have been fine and taken me about 15 minutes, but the more I thought about it the more I wanted to attempt to “cover” the image like I’d seen done at one of my favorite blogs – COVERED.

Since I don’t usually draw much horror stuff, I was excited about the idea of hunkering down at my drawing table and attempting to draw a zombie. I relished the moments I spent laboring over this image – first pencilling it, then inking it with my pen and later with brush. I tried to remember the techniques I’d learned from my friend and amazing horror artist Stephen R Bissette as dug in on the inking process. I especially tried to go over the techniques I’d seen him demonstrate in the inking demos I’d sat in on when I still lived in Vermont. You can find those demos online, actually… right here (you’ll have to skip over my music videos…)

After everything was drawn and inked, then came the process of scanning the image in, coloring it and doing all the design work. Finding the right fonts to emulate the 50′s – 60′s horror comic style and keep the design as similar to the source image while still conveying the information for the show. I also tried to emulate the coloring on the original source image as well (even if I’d color this image in a completely different way if I were doing it on my own… I did take a few liberties changing a couple things…)

All in all this was one of the most satisfying art projects I’ve had the pleasure of sinking my teeth into in a long time. A lot of that had to do with the fact that it incorporated a lot of things I like to do – making font/design decisions that affect the overall look of the piece, emulating a look that might not be the kind of thing I normally do, inking with a brush as well as dip pen, and much, much more.

A Sunday well spent and I’m super pleased with the results. I’ll be producing a high end full color print of this poster to sell at the show. If you live anywhere near me you should try to come by and pick one up!